Under Haunted Skies
by bloom-and-grow-forever
Summary: Bill takes a second trip to the surface of New Caprica.


Prompt from okaynextcrisis on Tumblr: Bill/Laura + New Caprica? Special thanks to lolcat202 for looking this over!

Thank you all for reading!

* * *

After two years on the run, as the dying leader of a dying race, Laura had forgotten how much she missed teaching. Sure, Baltar's presidency ensured the doom of the human race, but if hope could be found, the humans who elected that moron would find hope in these children. Rows and rows of the last human children, most barely old enough to remember the homes they would never see again, sat with rapt (or occasionally sporadic) attention. Gods, they wanted to _learn_ from her. From _her_.

Granted, without adequate textbooks, access to research, or additional teachers, they didn't have much of a choice.

Today, Laura started teaching the history of the Twelve Colonies. While it proved a bleak subject for the only survivors of the decimated Colonies, the next generation would be more likely to heed the warnings of history than their ancestors had been. Besides, the cylons would probably return before she got around to the nuclear annihilation of the human race.

Halfway through their morning lesson, Crius Hannovan, the youngest and most vocal of her students, practically fell out of his chair trying to get her attention.

"Yes, Crius?" Forcing a smile, Laura reminded herself that even on his worst day, Crius was easier to handle than a room full of Quorum Leaders.

"There's a stranger in here," Crius whispered, as if the frantic waving hadn't been enough to alert the intruder.

Even though she knew Crius often overreacted, Laura tensed as she peered at the tent's only exit. Every day, she waited to see one of the Sixes, smiling with a nuke at her feet.

Today, it was Bill.

He wasn't prepared for the colder climate. The last time she saw Bill, New Caprica was all blue skies and alluvial deposits. Now, Bill's uniform failed to shelter him from the worsening chill. Still, he was here, mustache and all, smirking at her like he meant to throw her off balance.

"Oh, no, Crius. This is Admiral Adama." Thankfully, she didn't sound breathless. "Maybe someday your kids will learn about him in history class." If she still had a part to play, it was hopeful Ms. Roslin.

Her students' focus erupted in a multitude of questions, and Laura scanned the room for Maya. If Bill managed to leave _Galactica_ , he couldn't stay for long. Even to Laura, the idea of leaving Lee in charge of protecting the fleet seemed unwise, so Maya could finish up the lesson for her.

"Okay, okay!" Maya's voice echoed above the din. "I'm sure the Admiral is here on official business." She winked at Laura, who could have smacked her, if not for the baby in her arms.

 _Oh Gods. Hera._

"Everyone say bye to Ms. Roslin, and let's get back to the thirteenth tribe," Maya said, moseying to the front of the classroom, rocking the stolen child in her arms.

Laura, flustered by the proximity of Bill, Hera, and herself, gave her students a half-hearted goodbye on her way to Bill. Her desire to be out of the tent overrode her desire to devour him, but as soon as they escaped, with all the privacy two adjacent tents could provide, Bill cupped Laura's cheeks and kissed her. Covering his hands with her own mitten-covered ones, Laura sighed. He was warm after all.

* * *

After Bill was in her tent, Laura threw pretense away with his uniform.

"How long do I have you?" Laura panted against his mouth. "Not that I'll let you go until I'm through."

"Just for the day. Can't leave Lee up there for long." He cupped her face to hold her still for long enough to lick the roof of her mouth. "I'm yours until 2200."

Giggling, Laura was relieved to find Bill on the same page about his son, even though she'd rather be talking about anyone but Lee while her hand was in Bill's pants. "You're very confident, Admiral," she purred as Bill worked his way down to her neck, pushing her sweater out of the way.

"Does that mean you want me to take my time?" Bill slid a freezing hand under her sweater, hoping to warm his fingers on her breasts. "Maybe slow down a little, have brunch?"

Laura huffed and tore off her sweater. Civilian life gave her enough freedom to forgo a bra in this chilly climate. "If you don't mind, I was just about to start on my meal." She licked her lips, which was almost enough to draw Bill's eyes up to her face. Almost. "I'll be quick."

"Speak for yourself." He always had to have the last word, and her nipple in his mouth was exactly the way to ensure that he did.

* * *

The sex was better than she remembered, probably because they weren't high off the local vegetation or tipsy beyond rationale. Draped across Bill's chest, Laura could have fallen asleep if not for Bill's need to hear her voice.

"Still living for today?" Bill asked, sounding unsure if or how to begin their pillow talk.

Laura hummed and skimmed her fingernails down his torso, avoiding his scar. "What, abandoning my class to have a nooner isn't spontaneous enough for you?" she teased. Knowing Bill and his easily triggered sentimentality, best to keep the conversation light, teasing.

"You didn't abandon them. You left them with a sub."

"Maya," Laura corrected. "She's highly capable." She didn't know why she felt the need to elaborate. The less said about Maya, the better. Before Bill could continue, Laura snuggled closer to him. "I may fall asleep on you." Surely that wouldn't offend him. She didn't want to hurt him; she just didn't have anything to give.

"Sleep. I'm not going anywhere." Bill pulled Laura's blankets tighter around her, neglecting his freezing toes.

Laura wanted to sleep more than she wanted to analyze the subtext of Bill's promise, but somehow she knew that he would be less subtle when she woke. As much as she wanted to stay warm, tucked into Bill's chest, Laura preferred her privacy, her space. She stretched as a pretense to roll farther away, as if that could fool him.

"What?" There's the edge in his voice she tried so hard to avoid.

Laura rolled onto her stomach and tucked her arms under her pillow, relieving some of the tension in her shoulders. "Nothing, Bill. It's nothing, okay?"

Bill stared at her for a long time, waiting for Laura to break first, but in the end, Bill's eyes closed as he ran his fingers through the hair she'd clung to earlier. She knew he wanted that desperation to mean something else. "Nothing. That's what you'd prefer?"

Laura could handle Bill's irritation just as she dealt with whining Quorum members or unruly children, but she had never been good at handling her own pain, much less his. "Bill, we've talked about this—"

"The most we've ever talked about this was on those sandbags high as kites," Bill shot back. Good. More irritation.

"Yes, and what did I say?" Laura said, pushing up onto her elbows. "We're living on borrowed time. There's no sense in starting something that we'll never finish."

Bill, still lying on his side, peered up at Laura through narrowed eyes. She knew that look, that calculating, conniving, hesitant gleam, like he regretted thinking what he was about to say. "So you're afraid."

She thought about telling him to leave, to go back to _Galactica_ , where people actually needed him. Even facing the probability of a cylon return, Laura knew the people would feel better with him up there. He'd feel better up there too, with Lee, with his ship. "So what if I'm afraid, Bill? Why shouldn't I be afraid for all these people we've doomed?"

"You want to make this about the election?"

His incredulousness infuriated her. "You want to make this about my weakness, so why not?"

"I didn't say you were _weak_." Bill hissed the word, as he had "schoolteacher" when it all began, but he took a breath, recognizing his escalating ire. "Look, I know you thought it was…safe to care about Billy."

"Enough." Laura threw the covers back and scanned the room for her sweater. Arguing naked was too humiliating, too vulnerable.

Sitting up in bed, watching her redress, Bill refused to relent. "Do you want to die alone?"

Laura froze, only one arm through her sleeve. "In the way you're thinking of, I've always been alone," she snapped. "I don't need somebody to hold me in my last moments of life, Bill. My role is limited here, but I cherish it. My job is to be there for those kids, and it's far more important that _they_ are not alone."

"They have families, Laura. That's not your job," Bill said, still comfortable arguing naked. Apparently he didn't feel as exposed as she. "Why rely on them to give you one when you have someone who wants to be that for you?"

Because the children could be kept at a distance—someone else's responsibility to love, but hers to protect. Because her father and baby sisters loved her, and they suffered. Because if the world was going to end, Lee should have his father's undivided and unconditional love.

"Because I'm used to living on borrowed time, and this time, I'm only obligated to think about what I want, like a normal person." She whimpered the last two words. At the end of the worlds, she could _finally_ think about herself, and the only basis she had for her decisions were the pain and anguish that plagued her life before the Fall. "I don't want this." Even as she said it, her insides clenched, as if she'd stabbed herself with her words instead of Bill.

Without a word, Bill scooted out of bed, hiding behind the legendary Adama silence. To his credit, his silence was the colder blow. Her only option was to watch him dress and leave, without one look back.

When the cylons returned, Laura could only think about how much she _did_ want him.


End file.
